In Your Eyes
by Misto Kitty
Summary: NS. Marah has been accepted at the Wind Ninja Academy, but there's still one person she needs to make amends with.


**Disclaimer: **It belongs to Disney. Not me. I'm just hoping to save up for a Starbucks franchise.

**Author's Note: **And now for something completely different… not much to say, really. I wrote this a while ago when I was buying my Ninja Storm DVDs. _All About Beevil_ is an amazing episode and I'm surprised that it only inspired this story. Oh well! Enjoy… or not. Actually, do whatever you want, it's no skin off my back.

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**IN YOUR EYES**

By Misto Kitty

_In your eyes, I am complete.  
__-Peter Gabriel_

I looked down at the yellow trim on my uniform and felt tears sting my eyes once more. I had shed so many tears since Cam had announced that I would be Earth and would be studying under Sensei Dustin Brooks. A part of me wanted to run and hide. Another part of me wanted to stand up and prove that I could so this, that I could study under Dustin after all that has happened. It would shut-up both Cam and Kapri, neither of which thought I would last in his classes. They had both expressed that sentiment at different times, but it had been the same. Kapri had been sneering and rude like always. Cam had been quietly concerned.

Kapri was now Air and I didn't have to deal with her anymore. She is my older sister and I suppose that I… love… her on some deep level, but she has always picked on me and teased me. Now she gets to annoy Shane. Lucky him…

I had been wishing during the entire sorting process that Cam would find something in me that sang to the Samurai spirit, so I could be in his classes. I felt safe around my cousin. I felt like someone actually accepted me for what I am and listened to me. He showed mild annoyance with me, but he never got hostile. He was patient. I wasn't sure that Dustin would be so patient with me, not after everything that has happened.

I remember the look on his face so well… right after I announced that I had tricked him into trusting me and now I was going to destroy them. I called him dumb and a million other things that I wish now I could take away. He just stood there at first, his fists clenched and his gorgeous brown eyes bright with unshed tears. How was I to know that earlier that day his bike had disappeared? I kept my mask in place, but I was dying on the inside. I wanted to change back into my human form and tell him it was all a lie. I wanted him to kiss me and tell me that he forgave me, that we would be together always.

It was cliché and it was stupid, but it didn't stop me from dreaming.

When I joined the Wind Ninja Academy, I thought that things might be different. He would see that I had changed and everything I done to him had been under my uncle. He would do something… I don't know… ask me to a movie or something. But all I got was a cursory glance or a nod. He stayed away from my new student class. He didn't preside over our training sessions like he might have in the past. When his eyes strayed to me, all I saw was cold indifference. He had locked his emotions deep within himself. I had no idea where I stood.

And now I was Earth and had to work with him.

A tear slipped down my cheek, followed by another. I didn't want to cry. Crying was for babies. But I did it anyway. I bit my lower lip to keep from sobbing aloud lest Cam or Kapri or someone find me here. I thought this was a rather ingenious spot, right behind the waterfall. Even the Water students didn't go behind the waterfall. My shoulders began to shake with my suppressed emotion.

"Dustin," I whispered.

I remember him smoothing my hair, picking stray pieces of hay and grass out of it. His gestures had been so gentle and the look on his face had been genuine. He had liked me. Me… and nothing else… His eyes were warm and sincere and I wanted to get lost in his gaze, where it was safe and where I felt wanted.

Now his eyes held nothing.

"You know, you're expected with the other new Earth students for katas in five minutes. It wouldn't look too good to be late the first day."

I looked up and gasped. He was here. And he looked as good as ever. He was wearing a kimono like Cam wore all the time, only his was trimmed in yellow rather than green. In the short time I had been here, I had learned that the teachers had field uniforms (similar to the students), casual robes (like what Dustin had on now) and dress robes. Cam also claimed that they all had this outfit with loose black pants and a loose black shirt trimmed in their color, but I had only ever seen Cam wear that one.

"I'm sorry," I said in a small voice. "I'll go now." I moved to stand up.

I don't know how he did it, but he was next to me, his hand on my arm. "If I'm late, it won't be so bad for you being late," he said softly. My skin burned from his touch. He sat down next to me. I could feel the heat radiating from his body, smell his aftershave and soap. "Why were you crying?"

I quickly wiped at my eyes. "It's stupid," I whispered.

"No, it's not. If it upset you that much," he replied, that warmth back in his voice.

"You hate me." He recoiled as if I had stung him. Tears started to leak down my cheeks again. "You hate me and now I have to be in your classes. You hate me." I don't know why I kept telling him that he hated me.

"I don't hate you," he said in a tone of voice that indicated I had been being stupid. He settled back down next to me, a fraction of an inch closer than before.

"Then why have you been avoiding me?"

"I thought you didn't like me."

"No!" I gasped, shocked that he couldn't read me at all. "I didn't mean it! That whole thing with Beevil—I wanted to be good because I liked you, but then Uncle would have gotten mad and Kapri would have been all alone and I didn't know if Cam would help me out or—" I was babbling incoherently now.

He silenced me with a finger on my lips. "Shhh," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice choked.

He sighed. "I know. I think I've known that for a long time."

"It is okay that I'm in your classes?"

"I can't control that," Dustin replied.

"I love you."

He laughed softly. "Let's be novel and get to know each other before we declare our undying love." He paused. "I have a race this weekend. Want to come?"

I nodded, hoping I didn't look to eager. My heart was soaring. He gently took my hand and led me away from the waterfall and to the school grounds. The Earth students were lounging around, waiting for Dustin and me. He lined us up and began demonstrating the first kata.

And as I caught his eye, I saw nothing but warmth and love.

_The End  
25 January 2005_


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